As used herein the term Tablet PC refers to, by way of example, without limitation, a full-function “MICROSOFT” “WINDOWS” operating system-based personal computer incorporating various convenient and intuitive aspects of pencil and paper into a user's interaction with a PC. Such Tablet PCs provide a very natural way to interact with a computer, namely, by writing on it, without sacrificing the power or utility of various “WINDOWS” operating systems and/or various “WINDOWS” operating system-based desktop applications. As will be apparent, Tablet PCs, as the term is used herein, are not limited to computers running “WINDOWS” operating system. Instead, a Tablet PC may also run any other known, or later-developed, operating system.
Computer users are generally familiar with interacting with conventional personal computers via a mouse and keyboard. Tablet PC's, however, generally do not have a physical keyboard or a mouse as part of their user interfaces. Instead, the user will often interact with a Tablet PC in the form of inputting textual information, navigating among documents, entering commands, and the like, by using a pen or stylus on the Tablet PC's display.
Conventional stylus and tablet user interfaces have various shortcomings, though. For instance, such conventional user interfaces are typically cumbersome to use, limit a user to one mode of inputting text information at a time, and require that the user manually switch between each of the various input modes.
Tablet PC's are preferably adapted for portability and use in a variety of settings, including, but not limited to, meetings with multiple attendees and in relatively secluded settings, such as in a user's office or home. Because handwritten notes are more appropriate in a meeting setting, while speech may be more efficient for entering text into correspondence from a relatively private setting, an integrated spectrum of various ways to enter textual information into a Tablet PC is desirable. Accordingly, there is a need for an improved computer user interface that allows users of Tablet PC's to input multimedia text information (including, but not limited to, handwritten text, spoken text, and/or virtual keyboard-entered text) in various ways, while minimizing the required amount of manual switching between input modes.